Have searched for this as a thread before posting but can't find it specifically, so sorry if its done the rounds already.

Am I the only person who gets hacked off (more politely said than I would like) with the term 'volunteer' when referring to the TA

yes I chose to be part of the army in a less than full time capacity - but my commitment to its value and standards is no less.

And I've yet to meet a regular/full time soilder that was dragged kicking and screaming to the recruiting office to sign on the dotted line in their own blood.

are we not ALL volunteers regardless of our number of days in green per year

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The term "volunteer", having fallen into disuse following the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908, re-emerged in 1967 following the re-organisation of the TA, AER etc into the TAVR and the creation of new composite infantry battalions broadly corresponding to the brigaded infantry that the regulars were just getting rid of e.g. Yorkshire Volunteers, Mercian Volunteers, Highland Volunteers, Fusilier Volunteers, Light Infantry Volunteers etc etc. The more cynical might suggest that this was simply a way of using up a large order for anodised aluminium capbadges which would otherwise have had to have waited for the invention of eBay. In keeping with this, the rest of the newly created TAVR substituted (V) after their unit title in place of the rather old-fashioned (TA) - this was the swinging 60s remember - Mary Quant, miniskirts, white heat of technology, Austin Powers (and Dr Evil) - so we needed to get with it daddy-oh, and what could be more groovy than "volunteers".

Times moved on and in the 1980s, Mrs Thatcher generously decreed that the much maligned TAVR could once again become the TA following enormous pressure from its former officers who by this time had risen to the harrumphing echelons of local Conservative parties and hence had to be listened to. The real reason was that John Nott (remember him?) had worked out that the paint saved by not renewing the "VR" bit on notice boards could be used to touch up Greenham Common, which we were trying to rent to the yanks. Obviously replacing (V) with (TA) would have used up more paint so it didn't happen.

Now that people don't like TA anymore, we are a bit stuck. We want to be modern so we need a complete break from the past - which rules out T,A,V and R (sorry 4 Para and SF). We looked at Australia (well Neighbours is very popular and shows the sort of young OJ drinking image we want the new force to have) and were quite taken with "Citizens Army". However, the abbreviation could be mistaken for the Countryside Alliance so it was ruled out. Tony quite fancies "People's Army" but frankly he's on his way out and no-one listens to him anymore - he's just like soooooo nineties! Gordon isn't speaking to anyone at the moment so we're waiting to catch him in a good mood. Despite his Scottishness he is not in favour of Tartan Army because that has been bagged by that new chap up there who looks like an evil ventriloquists dummy. The current thinking is that we will set up petitions for all the letters of the alphabet (less T,A,V, and R) on the No 10 website, see which is the most popular letter and then have a few committees and working groups to think of a word to fit.

A lot of people think that were sad anoracks who for some reason couldn't get into the Regs due to an ailment such as missing a leg or being blind. And that we are in fact the "Train spotters" of the Forces.

When my driving instructor asked me what I did for my part time student job, I announced I was in the TA, the response was, "Oh, how much do you have to pay for membership for that every year?" On the subject of deployment (with the same spaz driving instructor), "It won't matter though will it? I mean you lot are reserves so will only go out of the base when absolutely needed".

People need to be informed that TA lads/lasses are risking their lives everyday in the most volatile areas of the world, and in fact the latest person to loose their life could've been the man who came round and fixed the washing machine three months ago.

Rant over. And Breathe.

Apologies if there's any mong spelling - still got copius amounts of alcohol in me from last night.

A lot of people think that were sad anoracks who for some reason couldn't get into the Regs due to an ailment such as missing a leg or being blind. And that we are in fact the "Train spotters" of the Forces.

When my driving instructor asked me what I did for my part time student job, I announced I was in the TA, the response was, "Oh, how much do you have to pay for membership for that every year?" On the subject of deployment (with the same spaz driving instructor), "It won't matter though will it? I mean you lot are reserves so will only go out of the base when absolutely needed".

People need to be informed that TA lads/lasses are risking their lives everyday in the most volatile areas of the world, and in fact the latest person to loose their life could've been the man who came round and fixed the washing machine three months ago.

Rant over. And Breathe.

Apologies if there's any mong spelling - still got copius amounts of alcohol in me from last night.

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If you sort out the problem of the TA image, recruitment and retention will get a hell of a lot better, I just don't tell anyone I'm in the TA, because of all the snyde comments and ignorance from people who don't have a f**king clue.

You and your oppos know the score, who gives a f**k what the general big brother watching public think.

Butif the TA keeps doing what it's doing, and the army bothers it's arrse to let the public know what the TA do, the image will surely get better.

PS. If my driving instructor talked to me like that he would be put straight very quickly.

A lot of people think that were sad anoracks who for some reason couldn't get into the Regs due to an ailment such as missing a leg or being blind. And that we are in fact the "Train spotters" of the Forces.

When my driving instructor asked me what I did for my part time student job, I announced I was in the TA, the response was, "Oh, how much do you have to pay for membership for that every year?" On the subject of deployment (with the same spaz driving instructor), "It won't matter though will it? I mean you lot are reserves so will only go out of the base when absolutely needed".

People need to be informed that TA lads/lasses are risking their lives everyday in the most volatile areas of the world, and in fact the latest person to loose their life could've been the man who came round and fixed the washing machine three months ago.

Rant over. And Breathe.

Apologies if there's any mong spelling - still got copius amounts of alcohol in me from last night.

Click to expand...

The word volunteer never really bothered me, though I was, or rather became, vehemently opposed to the tag TA. For me , the mere mention of that phrase threw up images of Clive Dunn and Capt Mainwaring. Meeting a couple of MOD 'journos' on ex, I vented my spleen and said that I thought we should be the Army Reserve, much the same as the RMR, RNR and latterly the lilkes of SF (R). Their counter to this quite simply was "when all this is over, why will there be any such need for a RESERVE army"? I couldn't answer that. Will this sh1t ever be over? Will there be a time when the TA can ever go back to being just the TA?

A lot of people think that were sad anoracks who for some reason couldn't get into the Regs due to an ailment such as missing a leg or being blind. And that we are in fact the "Train spotters" of the Forces.

When my driving instructor asked me what I did for my part time student job, I announced I was in the TA, the response was, "Oh, how much do you have to pay for membership for that every year?" On the subject of deployment (with the same spaz driving instructor), "It won't matter though will it? I mean you lot are reserves so will only go out of the base when absolutely needed".

People need to be informed that TA lads/lasses are risking their lives everyday in the most volatile areas of the world, and in fact the latest person to loose their life could've been the man who came round and fixed the washing machine three months ago.

Rant over. And Breathe.

Apologies if there's any mong spelling - still got copius amounts of alcohol in me from last night.

Click to expand...

If you sort out the problem of the TA image, recruitment and retention will get a hell of a lot better, I just don't tell anyone I'm in the TA, because of all the snyde comments and ignorance from people who don't have a f**king clue.

You and your oppos know the score, who gives a f**k what the general big brother watching public think.

Butif the TA keeps doing what it's doing, and the army bothers it's arrse to let the public know what the TA do, the image will surely get better.

PS. If my driving instructor talked to me like that he would be put straight very quickly.

Click to expand...

Sadly though, we need the sad BB watchers to know, otherwise we will never throw off that sh1tty outdated image.

A lot of people think that were sad anoracks who for some reason couldn't get into the Regs due to an ailment such as missing a leg or being blind. And that we are in fact the "Train spotters" of the Forces.

When my driving instructor asked me what I did for my part time student job, I announced I was in the TA, the response was, "Oh, how much do you have to pay for membership for that every year?" On the subject of deployment (with the same spaz driving instructor), "It won't matter though will it? I mean you lot are reserves so will only go out of the base when absolutely needed".

People need to be informed that TA lads/lasses are risking their lives everyday in the most volatile areas of the world, and in fact the latest person to loose their life could've been the man who came round and fixed the washing machine three months ago.

Rant over. And Breathe.

Apologies if there's any mong spelling - still got copius amounts of alcohol in me from last night.

Click to expand...

If you sort out the problem of the TA image, recruitment and retention will get a hell of a lot better, I just don't tell anyone I'm in the TA, because of all the snyde comments and ignorance from people who don't have a f**king clue.

You and your oppos know the score, who gives a f**k what the general big brother watching public think.

Butif the TA keeps doing what it's doing, and the army bothers it's arrse to let the public know what the TA do, the image will surely get better.

PS. If my driving instructor talked to me like that he would be put straight very quickly.

Click to expand...

She was informed that my oppo got whacked with an IED a few days before.

Also, I was in the pub with me old man (ex 10PARA) and a geezer (never served a day in his life) attacks me for joining the TA: "Why you joining them? Is it because you don't have the balls to go to the proper Army?" My response was short and sharp,"fuck off you cunt, I've got a 6 month deployment to somewhere hot and sandy coming up, you wouldn't pass selection for the Salvation Army so wind your neck in"

A lot of people think that were sad anoracks who for some reason couldn't get into the Regs due to an ailment such as missing a leg or being blind. And that we are in fact the "Train spotters" of the Forces.

When my driving instructor asked me what I did for my part time student job, I announced I was in the TA, the response was, "Oh, how much do you have to pay for membership for that every year?" On the subject of deployment (with the same spaz driving instructor), "It won't matter though will it? I mean you lot are reserves so will only go out of the base when absolutely needed".

People need to be informed that TA lads/lasses are risking their lives everyday in the most volatile areas of the world, and in fact the latest person to loose their life could've been the man who came round and fixed the washing machine three months ago.

Rant over. And Breathe.

Apologies if there's any mong spelling - still got copius amounts of alcohol in me from last night.

Click to expand...

If you sort out the problem of the TA image, recruitment and retention will get a hell of a lot better, I just don't tell anyone I'm in the TA, because of all the snyde comments and ignorance from people who don't have a f**king clue.

You and your oppos know the score, who gives a f**k what the general big brother watching public think.

Butif the TA keeps doing what it's doing, and the army bothers it's arrse to let the public know what the TA do, the image will surely get better.

PS. If my driving instructor talked to me like that he would be put straight very quickly.

Click to expand...

She was informed that my oppo got whacked with an IED a few days before.

Also, I was in the pub with me old man (ex 10PARA) and a geezer (never served a day in his life) attacks me for joining the TA: "Why you joining them? Is it because you don't have the balls to go to the proper Army?" My response was short and sharp,"fuck off you cunt, I've got a 6 month deployment to somewhere hot and sandy coming up, you wouldn't pass selection for the Salvation Army so wind your neck in"